Conservative MPs have said that getting companies to sponsor certain tube stations could be the best way to keep travel costs down and help improve the facilities within.

Sponsorship of the Oyster card and tube stations could see the stations transformed with the use of free Wi-Fi, lifts and underground toilets.

It is expected that the prices of tickets are set to rise at the beginning of the New Year and such sponsorship could be used to counterbalance these additional costs.

The report also says that companies could pay for specific updates to the tube system, mayorwatch.co.uk reports, such as Evian sponsoring water fountains or Panasonic paying for the installation of television screens.

The proposal was made with the backing of a report by Gareth Bacon of GLA Conservatives, ‘Sealing the Deal: TfL Sponsorship Feasibility Study,’ which says that using the financial power of large companies TfL can make improvements that it could otherwise not afford.

Graeme Craig, TfL’s director of commercial development, told bbc.co.uk that it had already secured £3.5 billion in commercial revenue for the coming years and has got sponsorship deals in place; for example, Barclays putting its name to the capital’s cycle hire scheme.

Mr Craig said: “The mayor has always said that the sponsorship of Tube stations and other assets can happen if the sponsor is appropriate and the price right.”